NEW YORK, NY – April 14, 2009 – Following the successful launch of Comics Kingdom™ – a one-stop premium comics portal that provides local news Web site publishers content-based ad engines that drive revenue – King Features Syndicate, the world’s premier distributor of comics, columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to newspapers worldwide, is expanding the platform with new features and new partners.

King Features’ Comics Kingdom launched in November, 2008 with foundation partners, including the online divisions of the Albany Times-Union, The Daily Oklahoman and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Following the successful launch, the company recently finalized additional deals with online divisions of several major market newspapers, including the New York Daily News, Denver Post, San Antonio Express-News, Toronto Star, Las Vegas Review Journal, Santa Fe New Mexican, Spokesman Review, Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Tulsa World.

In addition to adding a slate of new partners, King Features is unveiling a new look and new features on Comics Kingdom, including the launch of Zits Motion Comics, which refashions one of the world’s most popular comic strips into brand-new entertainment content sure to engage and retain viewers and attract premium advertising dollars. To watch the Zits Motion Comics, you can view them on one of our client sites, http://www.jsonline.com/comics/?view_id=3, or on our YouTube Channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/zitsmotioncomics, where you may copy the embed code to add the videos to your news site or blog.

The Zits Motion Comics are a one-of-a-kind cross between the beloved print newspaper comic strips and animation. Users can enjoy the familiar experience of reading their favorite comic strip, but the characters move in and out of the panels and the built-in audio and text elements make for a unique visual experience. The tone and mood of the strips are further accentuated with music, voice talent and other special effects. Zits — which currently appears in more than 1,600 print newspapers around the globe and is one of the most popular comics in history — features the daily adventures of 15-year-old Jeremy, whose angst-ridden dreams of becoming a rock star and passing his driver’s test are kept in check by his wise parents, Walt and Connie, who obviously know nothing about his life. When he’s not being cool and hanging out with his best friend, Hector, Jeremy is trying to survive his awkward high school love affair with his girlfriend, Sarah Toomey. The hilarious Zits Motion Comics cover a range of topics and storylines and run an average of 30 seconds each.

Additional enrichments to Comics Kingdom include an enhanced landing page experience featuring more color, comic links and information zones; a comics section that highlights comic strips and gives readers an introduction to strips and special promotions; comic sliders on every page that highlight relevant comics, category-specific comics and the most popular comics, enabling easier user interaction; and a ‘favorites’ feature to enable users to see their selected comics four at a time.

“We are incredibly excited to launch the Zits Motion Comics and other new features within Comics Kingdom, which we are sure will be a huge hit with comics fans,” said Brendan Burford, King Features Comics Editor. “Comics Kingdom meets the growing demand from online newspaper publishers for premium content and services that attract traffic and garner additional revenue. By offering the entire portfolio of King Features’ comic strips, updated daily, Comics Kingdom has quickly become a destination that both casual and dedicated comics fans visit regularly at their local news Web site. As evidenced by the success seen with our foundation partners, Comics Kingdom significantly increases site traffic and the length of time users spend on the site, and we are confident our newest partners will quickly find Comics Kingdom to be a valuable addition to their sites.”

About Comics Kingdom

Comics Kingdom delivers a robust and dynamic Web 2.0 comics experience. It features King Features’ complete portfolio of more than 60 strips – presented every day in full color and packaged together in one destination. The King Features roster includes such contemporary and classic favorites as Zits, Mutts, Blondie, Beetle Bailey and Hägar the Horrible. Comics Kingdom enables news publishers to offer more than 1,500 comic strips daily, including a 30-day archive presented in a visually stimulating, user-friendly and community-based entertainment portal. Users will stay engaged for longer periods of time because they can customize and personalize their comics page experience with Comics Kingdom through the easy-to-use interface that also prompts interaction and sharing among comic readers. Users can email comics to others, including the site’s tagline and link, which will virally drive additional visitors to newspaper online destinations.

Additional consumer-oriented features of Comics Kingdom include: creator and characters bios; comics categorized into specific areas of interest for easier interaction; more than 400 choices of comic character avatars to represent readers’ postings; and most popular and recommended lists that encourage users to see what comics their peers are reading.

Comics Kingdom is the first product developed by King Features’ Digital division aimed at major online news sites that want quality content to drive ad impressions. King is currently working on other initiatives for publishers to monetize premium content for their Web sites.

Publishers may learn more by visiting www.comicskingdom.com.

About King Features Syndicate and King Digital

King Features Syndicate is a member of Hearst Entertainment and Syndication Group, which combines Hearst Corporation’s cable network partnerships, television programming activities and newspaper syndication and merchandise licensing operations. King Features is the world’s premier distributor of comics, columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games, distributing in print and online some 150 features to nearly 5,000 newspapers around the globe.

King Digital provides content solutions to publishers that reach over 2.5 M unique visitors per month generating 25 M page views through 160-plus online outlets. From comics to lifestyle advice, entertainment and political opinion to cartoons, King Digital offers more than 160 branded and packaged content properties to companies that look to retain loyal users. King Digital enables Web publishers to extend their service and generate ad revenue with minimal resources.

King Features is one of the largest and most experienced organizations in merchandise licensing and entertainment. Among its most beloved and successful classic characters are “Popeye” and “Betty Boop.”